Corporate critic Ralph Nader announced Sunday he would make a fourth run for the White House, this time as an independent, four years after his populist Green Party bid helped tip the presidency to George W. Bush. Decrying "a democracy gap" that he said had left "too much power and wealth in too few hands," Nader said his candidacy would offer an alternative to Republicans and Democrats but would focus on ousting the incumbent.

Volunteers take yoga breaks. Musicians wander in to plunk out tunes on the borrowed grand piano or entertain supporters with the mournful sounds of the didgeridoo. More than 300 local artists have covered the walls with their lent works, turning this once-barren warehouse into the city's largest impromptu gallery. Just a month ago, this space was vacant. Today, it is ground zero for the upstart mayoral campaign of Board of Supervisors President and Green Party member Matt Gonzalez.

Elating. Historic. Unprecedented. Those aren't words that likely spring to mind for most voters when they ponder Wednesday's gubernatorial debate. But for Green Party members throughout the state, the experience was all of that. For them, the 90-minute political discourse was a milestone. It marked the first time a Green Party candidate -- or any third-party contender -- had participated in a widely televised gubernatorial debate in California, political observers say.

Just as the legislative session was winding to a close, John Eder managed to get his first bill passed. For a moment, the freshman representative reveled in a round of back-slapping and high-fives from his Capitol colleagues. Then he slipped off to write a thank-you note to the committee chairman who helped him.

Re "Dissenting Greens See Chance to Grow," April 1: The Greens must credit Democrats with really short memories. If they don't think those of us opposed to this war don't consider them partly responsible for it, they're deluding themselves. Every time I read a headline about affirmative action rollbacks, the disappearing line between church and state, eroding abortion rights or drilling in some pristine wilderness, I remember Ralph Nader's simplistic accusation that there is no practical difference between Democrats and Republicans.

Re "Antiwar Stance Risky for Democrats," March 20: George Skelton repeats the simplistic canard that the Green Party is responsible for putting George W. Bush in the White House. The argument is that had Ralph Nader voters not voted for him in the Florida election they would have voted for Al Gore. What Skelton and others refuse to acknowledge is that, absent the option of voting for a true progressive, the Green voters would most likely have not voted at all. Remember that the voter turnout in the last presidential election was among the lowest ever.

The Green Party is finding its way toward its fighting weight as a major contender, but the Los Angeles County chapter is agonizing in an internal dispute over money. Party lines are buzzing with reports that former Santa Monica mayor and Green Party leader Michael Feinstein may have commingled state and county party funds, reportedly depositing as much as $30,000 in contributions to the county's Green Party into a private bank account more than a year ago.

Green Party gubernatorial hopeful Peter Miguel Camejo was the prime beneficiary of voters' discontent with California's two major-party candidates, polling better than even he expected and giving a boost, he said, to future Green campaigns. Third-party candidates had their best showing in a California election since 1934. Although still polling in the single digits in early returns, and well behind Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and Republican Bill Simon Jr.

How interesting that Gerald Kamin's letter (Oct. 11) was printed the day after the vote by Democrats and Republicans alike to grant President Bush the unconstitutional power to launch a preemptive strike against Iraq. When he blames Greens for Bush, Kamin doesn't seem to remember that thousands of African Americans were illegally purged from the voter rolls in Florida and that Al Gore did not even inspire his own state of Tennessee to vote for him. Regarding Sen. Paul Wellstone: Ralph Nader, Winona LaDuke, I and many Greens I know are ardent supporters of Wellstone.